Terror Halts Film, TV Shoots
uesday's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington prompted the halt of television and film production throughout the industry, affecting genre films and televisions shows, the Hollywood trade papers reported.
In addition, wall-to-wall news coverage may delay the start of the fall television season and postpone the premiere of several new and returning SF&F series.
Sony had shut down production of its upcoming sequel Men in Black 2. Sony and Amblin announced they will change the ending of the film, due for release on July 3, 2002, because the World Trade Center was to be involved in the climax, Variety reported. While sources told the trade paper that the ending had already been shot when footage was filmed in New York over the summer, the studio said that the scene hadn't been done yet. Meanwhile, DreamWorks' unfinished films The Time Machine and Minority Report were in post-production and as such would not likely see their release dates affected, the trade paper reported.
CBS postponed the Sept. 12 premiere of its werewolf-themed series Wolf Lake. The X-Files, which was shooting on location in Los Angeles, ceased production for the day, and Warner Bros. television shut down production on all its shows, including Smallville, which is shot in Vancouver, B.C., the trade papers reported.
Networks also pulled scheduled screenings of movies featuring plotlines that might resemble the tragic events of the day. Fox replaced the planned Sept. 14 broadcast of The X-Files movie—which features an Oklahoma-City-style bombing—and a Sept. 16 screening of Independence Day—in which the White House and the Empire State Building blow up, Variety reported. The WB scrapped plans to run the 1996 film The Craft on Sept. 12, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sabrina Season Delayed
ontinuing sensitivity to this week's terrorist attacks is leading The WB to delay the scheduled Sept. 14 season premiere of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch to another date, a network spokesperson told SCI FI Wire.
No new date has been set. President Bush designated Sept. 14 as a national day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Meanwhile, CBS has rescheduled the premiere of its werewolf drama Wolf Lake to Sept. 19, Variety reported. The show will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Wolf Lake had been slated to debut on Sept. 12, but was pulled in lieu of continuing news coverage of the terrorist attacks.
Dark Angel will have its second-season premiere on Fox as scheduled Sept. 21, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Spidey Modified To Delete WTC
Sony spokesperson told SCI FI Wire that filmmakers will use computer technology to remove any images of the World Trade Center from its upcoming Spider-Man movie, which was shot partly in New York earlier this year.
Sony has also recalled its teaser trailer for the film—which featured a sequence in which the titular hero traps a helicopter full of thieves in a massive web strung between the two towers—and posters featuring the towers. The studio was responding to the terrorist attack that destroyed the towers on Sept. 11.
The trailer and poster "both feature images of the World Trade Center in them, and the sequence that is included in the trailer is not part of the movie, so we felt that it was appropriate ... to be sensitive to the circumstances of this past week's tragedy," the spokesperson said in an interview.
The spokesperson added that the changes won't affect the timetable to complete the film, which is currently in post-production, or alter its current release date of May 3, 2002. A new trailer has already been produced and new posters will be coming out as well, though the spokesperson did not say when. The movie, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
EA Suspends Majestic
lectronic Arts informed subscribers that it has temporarily suspended its online interactive conspiracy game Majestic, in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
In an e-mail to gameplayers, the company said, "EA has temporarily suspended service on Majestic. Given the recent national tragedy, we feel that some of the fictional elements in the game may not be appropriate at this time. We will contact you again concerning resumption of the game."
Majestic involves players in a shadowy SF conspiracy that involves murders and destruction of public property.
Dawson Wraps Enterprise Episode
oxann Dawson—the former Star Trek: Voyager actress—told Trek fans that she has already completed directing an episode of UPN's upcoming Enterprise series, according to the TrekNewsletter Web site.
Speaking at the 35th anniversary convention in Las Vegas, Dawson said she wrapped production of her episode—the show's seventh—on Sept. 7, the newsletter reported.
"Enterprise will be an enormous hit," Dawson reportedly said. "I had a ball working on it. The cast is wonderful." As for the cast, she added, "They were looking forward to meeting the fans and entering this world. ... Their excitement and enthusiasm is infectious. They have no idea how their lives are going to change."
Enterprise co-creator Brannon Braga told fans to expect changes to familiar faces. "The Andorians were probably the silliest-looking aliens in Star Trek," Braga said, according to the newsletter. "So we thought it would be cool to update the look. The new costuming and makeup is extremely impressive. ... We'll also explore the culture a bit." Enterprise debuts on UPN on Sept. 26.
Surprise Cameo In Trek X?
eVar Burton, who will likely reprise the role of Geordi LaForge in the upcoming 10th Star Trek movie, told convention-goers in Las Vegas that a familiar face may appear in the film, according to reports on the TrekToday and TrekWeb sites.
The spoilery rumor is that Whoopi Goldberg's Next Generation character, Guinan, will appear in an early scene, a celebratory event rumored to be the wedding of Cmdr. Riker and Deanna Troi.
Drafts of the script—including an early one obtained by SCI FI Wire—do not feature Guinan, but subsequent drafts may include her. The 10th film is tentatively entitled Star Trek: Nemesis. Burton made his comments at Slanted Fedora's 35th anniversary convention in Las Vegas, the fan sites reported.
Site Offers X-Files Spoiler
he Ain't It Cool News Web site reported several rumored spoilers for the upcoming ninth season of Fox's The X-Files.
Citing an anonymous source, the site reported that the spoilers concern the announced guest appearance of former Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless.
Lawless is rumored to appear frequently in the new season playing an emissary of a character long thought dead: the Cigarette-Smoking Man. According to AICN, Lawless' first appearance will lead to the CSM's return at the end of the second episode of the season. The X-Files starts its new season on Fox on Nov. 4.
Dune Wins Emmys
he SCI FI Channel's original miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune took home two technical Emmy Awards at the 2001 Creative Arts Awards presentation Sept. 8 in Pasadena, Calif.
The miniseries won awards for cinematography and visual effects.
Star Trek: Voyager also took home two awards in its final season and was among several genre programs that won Emmys. A list of genre winners follows.
Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)
•Star Trek: Voyager, "End Game," Jay Chattaway, composer
Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie
•Frank Herbert's Dune, Part 2, Vittorio Storaro, cinematographer
Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program
•Peter Pan Starring Cathy Rigby, John Iacovelli, production designer; Aaron King, set decorator
Individual Achievement in Animation
•Futurama, "Parasites Lost," Rodney Clouden, storyboard artist
•Invader Zim, "The Nightmare Begins," Kyle Menke, storyboard artist
Special Visual Effects for a Series
•Star Trek: Voyager, "End Game," Dan Curry, visual effects producer; Mitch Suskin, Ronald B. Moore, visual effects supervisors; Art Codron, visual effects coordinator; Steve Fong, visual effects compositor; Eric Chauvin, matte artist; Robert Bonchune, CGI supervisor; John Teska, CGI artist; Greg Rainoff, visual effects animator
Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
•Frank Herbert's Dune, Part 1, Ernest Farino, Tim McHugh, Laurel Klick, Frank H. Isaacs, visual effects supervisors; Elaine Essex Thompson, visual effects coordinator; James Healy, Gregory Nicotero, lead special effects supervisors; Anthony Alderson, CGI supervisor; Chris Zapara, lead CGI animator
Blanc Informs On Dark Angel
ark Angel's Jennifer Blanc told SCI FI Wire that her character, Kendra, could become an informant in the upcoming second season.
"There's been quite a few storylines being talked about [by producers]," she said in an interview. "The one that I've liked the best is Kendra being a little more difficult than she was last year, but I think Kendra's just going to end up being an informant for Eyes Only. I've talked about it with them. They kind of approached me with that idea. People seemed really upset. I think they need a reason for me being with Mr. Multiples, besides that I just fell in love with this evil cop, and I think that they want him to turn good and start becoming an informant for Michael Weatherly's character. And I think that's their reasoning for Kendra thinking this guy's really great— ... that he becomes a good guy."
Blanc also anticipated more intense science fiction entering the storylines. "I'm not sure, but I know that a lot more science fiction stuff all around for all of us [will happen]," she said. "I don't know how they'll involve Kendra in that. They're just getting really more hard-core into Manticore coming into the Seattle life, [Max's] meeting up with a lot more of her siblings mixing in her normal life. I'm vying for us, her friends that are regulars, to somehow get implanted with something, but these are all just things that are being thrown out there. We know in a general idea what they're talking about, but we never know until a week before we're shooting what's happening for us." Dark Angel starts its second season in its new 8 p.m. Friday timeslot on Sept. 21.
Dark Angel Film Mulled
ark Angel co-creator James Cameron told Cinescape Online that he's considered a feature-film version of the hit Fox SF series, which starts its second season this fall.
"I think if we have continued success with the series, there is a good possibility that we might want to make a film from it," Cameron told the site. "I think we've got to see where the series goes. If we grow our fan base, and we stay at least where we are and/or grow from where we are, I think that's a very good possibility."
Cameron is no stranger to big SF movies, having directed the Terminator series, Aliens and other big-budget films. Of Dark Angel, he said, "I think it's a fun world, and there's a lot of things that we can do in a feature environment that we don't have the budget for in a TV environment." The series, starring Jessica Alba, starts the season in its new Friday 8 p.m. timeslot on Sept. 21.
Marsters Bites Into Andromeda
uffy the Vampire Slayer's James Marsters told SCI FI Wire that he happily retracted Spike's fangs for an upcoming guest spot on Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
"It came very last minute," Marsters said in an interview. "I was already going to be in Canada doing [VH1's] Strange Frequency [which aired in August], and it seemed like fun to do a Gene Roddenberry series."
Marsters added, "I grew up watching Star Trek, as we all did, so it was fun to put at least a foot in that universe. I play [Charlemagne Bolivar], an aristocrat, a genetically perfected person whose people [the Nietzscheans] think of themselves—probably rightly—as superior to most people, certainly intellectually and physically. So he holds the entire crew in some sort of contempt. But he needs them, and they have to work together. [The producers] wanted the character to come back, and I would do it, but my Buffy schedule is so tight that I don't know if it will work out." Marster's episode of Andromeda, entitled "Into the Labyrinth," will air early in the syndicated show's second season, which will kicks off the week of Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, Marsters and the Buffy crew are back at work. Season six will start with a two-hour season premiere set to air on Oct. 2, as the Scooby Gang comes to grips with Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) demise. The night will also mark Buffy's debut on UPN after five seasons on The WB. "We're humming along," Marsters said. "Everything is just like normal. We were really flying high at the end of last season, and we knew it. Our commitment level is just as high now and we're having a lot of fun on the set."
Jeepers Pushes MGM Higher
eepers Creepers, which debuted in the No. 1 box-office slot, helped propel MGM's domestic box-office take for 2001 to record levels, though there's still four months left in the year, the studio announced.
This year's box-office total is already the largest in the studio's 77-year history, MGM said.
Jeepers and the comic-inspired Ghost World took MGM's 2001 box office total over 1982's previous record of $370.6 million.
Appleby Happy Roswell's Back
oswell star Shiri Appleby (Liz) told SCI FI Wire that—despite the fact co-star Brendan Fehr made it clear he didn't want to return to the SF series by not attending UPN's press preview and from statements by his representatives—there's been no resulting tension on the set.
"Now that he's here, we're all friends, so it's still fun," she said in an interview. "I think everyone is entitled to their opinion."
But did Appleby want to return, or was she eager to get on with the rest of her career? "The show has given me so much that I sort of prepared myself either way," said the 22-year-old actress, who did attend the press preview for the Television Critics Association and who has been actively promoting Roswell in the build-up to its third-season premiere on Oct. 9. "To me, the show is my first big, adult job. So if the show was going to stick around, I was definitely happy to be continuing with it. And if Roswell was going to go away, I was also prepared."
Roswell's new season—its first on UPN—will begin with "Busted," which finds a rebellious Liz and Max (Jason Behr) getting arrested while attempting to rob a liquor store. It's an act they commit as part of Max's effort to find the son he sired with turncoat alien Tess (Emilie de Ravin). The episode will mark a return to the show's pivotal Liz-Max storyline, which—along with the character of Liz—became secondary for the better part of year two. "At the beginning it was a little bit frustrating, but then you just realize that you are part of an ensemble, and there are a lot of stories to be told," said Appleby, who shot the upcoming big-screen thriller Swimfan85 during her summer hiatus. "To be honest, it was nice to have a break for a little while. I found it interesting to watch Max with another person. And it was interesting for me to have Devon Gummersall come on the show [as Sean DeLuca], because it gave me the chance to work with someone else. But it was a little hard at the beginning."
Preacher To Film Soon
lectric Entertainment is developing a feature-film version of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's supernatural Western comic series Preacher, the Comics2Film Web site reported.
The movie is slated to go into production in November under the direction of Rachel Talalay (Tank Girl), from a screenplay by Ennis.
No cast has been set for the independent film. Preacher tells the story of a man in search of God in the West and features images and inhabitants of heaven, hell and the space in between, the site reported.
Scooby Remembers Roots
aja Gosnell, director of the upcoming live-action Scooby-Doo movie, told the Australian TV Week magazine that he tried to incorporate classic Scooby moments from the animated television series, according to a report on the Movie Hole Web site.
"We couldn't do every one, but we wanted to go to the spooky castle, because a haunted house is a typical place the gang would find themselves," Gosnell reportedly told the magazine. "We've tried to pick out the most familiar ones in the series and have fun."
As for the titular character, who will be created with computer animation, Gosnell said, "He'll look and act like a real dog, but he'll also do all the things you expect Scooby to do. He'll walk on two legs. He can open a door, and he can talk. He won't look like a cartoon character next to real people. He'll look real."
Producer Charles Roven told the magazine that the live-action film—co-starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and his real-life fiancee, Sarah Michelle Gellar—tries to flesh out the cartoon's characters. "We were hoping to put some meat on the bones of their personalities," Roven said. "Fred [Prinze] is the supportive leader of the Mystery Inc. group. We've always suspected that there may have been some kind of relationship between him and Daphne [Gellar], so we explore this a bit."
Reeves Talks Matrix Films
eanu Reeves, who will reprise the role of Neo in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix 3, told the Calgary Sun that the two sequels are being shot as one big movie.
"Right now I simply think of them as one film that will eventually be split into two separate films," Reeves told the newspaper at the Toronto Film Festival. "We're not filming in any particular order, so we're doing them simultaneously."
Reeves added that he had not worked with singer Aaliyah, who was set to appear in both films before she died in a plane crash earlier this month. "I have no idea what she filmed or what, if anything, will be done with her footage," Reeves said.
Diesel Likes Hellboy
roducer Lloyd Levin told the Comics2Film Web site that Vin Diesel is indeed mulling the title role in a proposed Hellboy feature film.
"Vin Diesel is definitely interested," Levin told the site. "Guillermo [del Toro] is still set to direct. We're all hoping we can work this out so it's his next film after Blade 2."
At this point there is no studio attached to the project, although Levin said there is currently a lot of interest. The movie is based on the comic series by Mike Mignola. Diesel previously told SCI FI Wire that he's not yet connected with a Hellboy film.
Diesel Offered Daredevil?
ark Steven Johnson, director of the upcoming live-action Daredevil movie, is eyeing Vin Diesel (Pitch Black) to put on the red suit, sources told The Hollywood Reporter.
Diesel has reportedly been offered the lead in the Regency Enterprises film, which is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Diesel has been rumored to be up for roles in several genre films, including Terminator 3 and Hellboy, and is slated to reprise the role of Riddick in the Pitch Black sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick.
Jackson Took Big Rings Risk
irector Peter Jackson told SCI FI Wire that he conceived of his upcoming Lord of the Rings film trilogy as one single movie.
"We really haven't divided the film into three parts that much in our minds," Jackson said in an interview. "We obviously have the three parts to release, one a year apart from each other, so in post-production we're differentiating part one [The Fellowship of the Ring], part two [The Two Towers] and part three [The Return of the King] very clearly. But shooting it was 14 months of continuous [production in Jackson's native New Zealand]."
Added Jackson, the director of Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners, "Like any movie, we shot out of sequence. One day we would be shooting a scene from part three, and the next day we'd be shooting something from part one. That was just pretty much the way the movie went. It was like shooting one big six-, seven-, eight-hour movie."
Why three movies? "How do you adapt The Lord of the Rings?" Jackson asked. "I think one of the reasons why it hasn't happened for 40 years, apart from the cartoon version in the '70s, is [the sheer length of the J.R.R. Tolkien saga]. The key to it is that we've made it three movies. The instinct that Hollywood would have would be to just compress it all into one movie. And I think anybody attempting to do that ... you just can't do it. The story is too well known. The characters are too loved. You'd have to lose so much of what people love about the book that it's never happened. People have just not gone there. The key is that we took the huge risk, which it obviously is, and said, 'Well, we're going to make three movies. We're going to shoot three movies all at the same time. And that's the way this project is going to be done.'"
Miramax Films, which had acquired the rights to the Lord of the Rings books, wanted to make only one film. But the studio ultimately sold the rights to New Line Cinema, whose head, Bob Shaye, pointed out that Tolkein wrote three books and reasoned that there should therefore be three films. The studio ultimately invested $270 million in the project, Jackson and his cast—including Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler—spent more than a year filming in New Zealand, and the resulting features will be released in sequence on Dec. 19, December 2002 and December 2003.
Revolution Readies Don't Peek
he first feature for Revolution Studios-based Distant Corners Entertainment Group will be the supernatural horror film Don't Peek, formerly The Tooth Fairy, Variety reported.
The film will be based on a script by Joe Harris and is to be directed by newcomer Jonathan Liebesman, the trade paper reported.
Chaney Clay will play the male lead opposite Emma Caulfield (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The film tells the story of a boy who is considered crazy by everyone in town, except for his childhood girlfriend (Caulfield) and her little brother. The young man is the only thing that stands between a legendary evil and the boy.
Graham Admired Hell Girl
eather Graham—co-star of the upcoming Jack the Ripper film From Hell—told the Toronto Sun that she admired her prostitute character in the story, which highlights the grinding poverty of 19th-century London.
"I think [my character is] actually really brave and strong that [she] could survive in those conditions," Graham told the newspaper. "The conditions were so bad. It wasn't like as in today's society—someone might choose to be a prostitute to make more money or they might work at Burger King. Women then didn't have those choices."
Graham co-stars with Johnny Depp, who plays a detective who may or may not possess psychic powers and who tracks the infamous Ripper as he murders prostitutes. "There's definitely gore in there for those people who like horror movies, but it's not like a sit on the edge of your seat 'Ah! Ah!'" Graham said. From Hell, based loosely on Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel of the same name, opens Oct. 19.
DVD Enhances Episode I
ucasfilm spent about $4 million on the production of new material for the DVD edition of Star Wars: Episode I—a record, Variety reported.
Filmmakers spent a year and a half producing the double-disc set, which features seven scenes that were cut from the movie before they were fully produced. Director George Lucas was so enamored of the newly completed shots, which each last only a few seconds, that he has incorporated several of them into the DVD version of Episode I, which is due for release on Oct. 16.
Meanwhile, Lucas told reporters at a recent presentation at Skywalker Ranch in Northern California that the first three Star Wars movies would not hit DVD until at least 2006, after Episode III comes out theatrically around 2005. DVD versions of Episode II and Episode III should come sooner, following the pattern of other DVD releases, Variety reported.
Starfighter Images Posted
ucasArts has released images from its upcoming Star Wars Starfighter: Special Edition video game, which is coming out this holiday season for the Xbox gaming platform, the FGN Web site reported.
The game, based in the Star Wars universe, features several enhancements and additions, including a split-screen multiplayer mode, the site reported.
"Star Wars Starfighter combines great console game play in one of the most compelling fictional universes ever created," J. Allard, general manager of the Xbox platform, told the site.
Distancing Himself From Anakin
ayden Christensen, who plays the future Darth Vader in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones, told reporters that he is eager for audiences to see him as something other than Anakin Skywalker, the Reuters news service reported.
"It was important to me to get a film out before Star Wars and really be unrecognizable with the audience," Christensen said at a press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival.
That film is Life as a House, in which he plays the teen-age son of Kevin Kline. Christensen shot the movie after completing principal photography for Clones, which is due out next spring. Kline called Christensen the "flavor of the millennium," Reuters reported. "I mean as opposed to flavor of the month. Hayden is here to stay."
Hayden Relates To Anakin
tar Wars: Episode II star Hayden Christensen told the Empire Online Web site that he relates to his character's transformation into Darth Vader. "I think his transition to the dark side is very well justified," Christensen said of Anakin Skywalker.
"I think when the audience sees what he's going through, it's the type of thing where the audience would have made the same choice that Anakin makes."
Christensen added that audiences won't see the complete change in the upcoming prequel, titled Attack of the Clones. "He's still a good kid in this film," he said. "But there are very specific flashes of the dark side in direct reaction to what's happening to him."
Star Nervous About Potter
aniel Radcliffe—who plays the title role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone—told Nickelodeon Magazine that he was nervous taking on such a popular and well-known hero, according to a report on the FilmFour Web site.
"The first day on the set, I was very nervous," Radcliffe, 11, told the magazine. "I was used to rehearsing with about eight other people, and then I got to the set and—including the extras—there were, like, 150 people there."
But Radcliffe warmed to the role, even doing some of his own stunts. "There was one shot where I was hanging one-handed from my broomstick, 22 feet in the air," he said of a Quidditch sequence. "I was wired up to the broom, with a huge airbag underneath me, and they moved me around up there. That was pretty cool." The film, based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling book of the same name, opens Nov. 16.
Straub And King Go Black
eter Straub, who co-authored the sequel Black House with Stephen King, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the book takes the story beyond the duo's original 1984 book The Talisman.
"Stephen and I always, I think, intended to do another book carrying the story forward," Straub told the newspaper. "This particular book is based on an idea he had that, in turn, was based on an idea of mine we talked about 15 years ago: a bad house that's a doorway to all sorts of things."
The 640-page Black House takes up the story of Jack Sawyer, now an adult detective fleeing Los Angeles to pursue a serial killer in French Landing, Wis., and confronting a past he'd blocked from his memory, the newspaper reported. It resumes the supernatural story of Sawyer's adventures in The Territories, a parallel world. "It was my job to begin the story, because the part outside The Territories is set in an area of Wisconsin I'm familiar with," Straub said. "We alternated sections, working by phone and e-mail. Sometimes we'd take turns beginning new chapters, sometimes not. We might alternate paragraphs. It just depended."
Straub added, "The first step, the most important one, was to begin with a voice that was neither his style nor mine. So the book begins in an elegant first-person plural voice. We tried it and found that both of us could do it comfortably. The book carries on in that tone for quite a long time, and after that we each adjusted to the writing style of the other. I know I got looser, more colloquial." Black House hits store shelves on Sept. 15.
Biohazard Due For Gamecube
apcom Japan has announced remakes of its Resident Evil video game franchise exclusively for the Gamecube platform in that country, the FGN Web site reported.
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto made the announcement at a press conference in Japan, along with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, the site reported. The game is called Biohazard in Japan.
Remakes of Biohazard, Biohazard 2, Biohazard 3: Nemesis and Biohazard: Code Veronica will be released only on Gamecube. The first is expected in March 2002.
Briefly Noted
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Director George Lucas and producers of the upcoming DVD version of Star Wars: Episode I spoke extensively about the edition at the DigitalBits Web site.
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Crossing Over With John Edward averaged an impressive 2.1 rating in its first week of syndication, ending Sept. 2, according to Nielsen Media Research data published in The Hollywood Reporter. Crossing Over is the top-rated season debut show in syndication so far.
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The computer-animated film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which choked at the North American box office, nevertheless is getting a gala opening in Japan, where the film was produced, Variety reported. The independent distributor Gaga will release the movie, based on the Square video-game series of the same name, in 256 theaters in Japan, backed by a big marketing campaign, the trade paper reported.
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The Onion A.V. Club Web site reported a rumor that Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon has been asked to write a script for a proposed Iron Man film, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Whedon, who has spoken about his bad experiences writing for the movies, is reportedly considering the offer.
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Pendragon Pictures announced that it was suspending production of its feature-film version of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds because of the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Center. Producers of the independent SF movie said that they would assess the project's potential in a couple of weeks.
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